Dale Ahlquist

Invite Dale Ahlquist to give a talk at your college, high school, church, or organizational meeting. Dale will give a talk on Chesterton and…well, what would you like? Art? Politics? History? Literature? Philosophy? Faith? You name it. Whatever it is, Chesterton had something wonderful and witty to say about it, and Dale will put together a presentation to tell you what it was Chesterton said.

Bio

One of the most respected G.K. Chesterton scholars in the world, Dale Ahlquist is President of the American Chesterton Society, and publisher of its flagship publication, GILBERT. Dale is also the creator and host of the popular EWTN series The Apostle of Common Sense, and he is the author of three books on Chesterton including G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense, Common Sense 101: Lessons from G.K. Chesterton and The Complete Thinker. His books deliver Chestertonian perspectives on such topics as faith, education, love, and marriage, and unpack the wisdom of Chesterton to explain why modern man has lost his ability to think clearly. He has also edited eight books of Chesterton’s writings.

An internationally renowned speaker, Dale Ahlquist has given more than 600 lectures at men’s conferences, diocesan events, and prestigious institutions including Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Notre Dame, Oxford, the Vatican Forum in Rome, and the House of Lords in London.

Dale has been interviewed by the New York Times, First Things, Catholic News Agency, Catholic Herald (U.K.), BBC News and BBC Radio, Zenit, Breitbart, The Independent (U.K.), Ignatius Insight, Catholic Answers Live!, Relevant Radio, Catholic World Report, and EWTN Radio. He is a regular columnist for The Catholic Servant, and his articles have appeared in Chronicles, Crisis, Catholic Rural Life, Christian History, St. Austin’s Review, The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature, The Great Books Reader, Christian Higher Education, Faith and Reason, Recusant History, Ave Maria Law Review, Envoy, and The Distributist Review.

Dale is also the co-founder of Chesterton Academy, a new high school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which has been rated one of the “Top 50 Catholic Schools” in the nation by the Cardinal Newman Society. His pioneering work in classical, integrated education has helped develop a curriculum that is capturing the minds of parents across the country.

In addition to talks about Chesterton (and the endless list of subjects on which he wrote), Dale is also available to lecture or comment on topics such as religious liberty, marriage, Catholic social teaching, health care, and education.

Sample Talks

G.K. Chesterton: Heavyweight Champion of the Faith

Pius XI called him a “defender of the faith,” and Ven. Fulton J. Sheen and Servant of God Dorothy Day loved him. But who was this great apologist named G.K. Chesterton?

LOVE, Marriage, and Common Sense

In today’s troubling times, marriage and family life are under attack. But they were also threatened in Chesterton’s time. What insights can Chesterton give us to defend the family?

How to Create Complete Thinkers in a One-Dimensional Culture

What does it mean to be a “complete thinker”? It means being able to take on a wide variety of ideas and disciplines and put them all together in a way that they work together. It means thinking like G.K. Chesterton.

Saint G.K. Chesterton?

The investigation into Chesterton’s Cause for Canonization has taken many by surprise. Dale will make a case why Chesterton will be declared a saint.

The Gentle and Bloody Art of Defending the Faith

Defending the faith is sometimes not very pretty. Learn from the great apologist G.K. Chesterton, heralded as “defender of the faith” by Pius XI, the art of dueling intellectually.

The Trouble with Catholic Social Teaching

Why is it that no one “gets” Catholic Social teaching? Dale will share his insights on why the social doctrine of the Church baffles many people, and the answer is not what you expect.

How Schools Can Capitalize on the Emergence of Classical Education

In 2008, Dale Ahlquist co-founded Chesterton Academy because of the perceived need for parent-driven, integrated education steeped in the Catholic intellectual tradition. Invite Dale to share the keys to building a successful school aimed at restoring the good, the true, and the beautiful.